Protection fence for railroads



7 y 1935. E. G. BAUMANN 2,009,009

PROTECTION FENCE FOR RAILROADS Filed Aug. 1, 1934 3 SheetsSheet 1 L a I m 5 V N m 1 W1 M55555.- A INVENTOR:

' Edward iflaumanzy July 23, 1.935.- E. GBAuM-A N' 2,009,009

PROTECTION FENCE FOR RAILROADS Filed Aug. 1, 1934 s Sheets-Sheet 2 5 w .mwahmziwnib '-E. G. BAUMANN PROTECTION FENCE FOR RAILROADS July 23, 1935..

Filed Aug. 1, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG; J21:

F]G it:

[N V EN TOR:

Jim gm Patented July 23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT omen Pno'rno'rmn FENCE FOE RAILROADS Edward G. Bau'inann, Astmwsu, 1%.

5 for warning approaching train-s by signal in the event that a large object strikes the fence, or a land-slide occurs, or other conditions exist which render the track dangerous.

One object of the invention is to provide a conipa-ratively simple and inexpensive slide protection fence of this character, with the partsv so designed that they may be assembled and removed with facility.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in association with such a fence, an improved circuit breaker for' causing a warning signal to be displayed when the fence is disturbed, and to provide means for operating the circuit breaker which are responsive to the impact of large obiect's' but are not affectedby expansionand contraction of the fence netting or by relatively insignificant disturbancesjoi the fence;

Another object of the invention" is to provide a slide protection fence which does not require a; special foundation; which may be installed on telegraph and telephone poles, and which may be constructed of any desired height, and of such a design that the fence postshi'ay' be spaced wide apart with a single circuit breaker covering a relatively long fence panel;

Another object of the invention is to provide means for indicating the co'nditio'riof a circuit breaker, such means being" visible" at a distance and operated automatically asan incident to the operation of the circuit breaker.

Still other objects and-advantages characterizing this invention will become more fully apparent from. the detailed description, hereinafter set forth, of one embodiment or example of the invention having reference to the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

Fig. 1- represents a; front elevation illustrating aninstallation-imwhich a single fence panel is employed. p r

Fig.1 represents a side elevation of the sarne.

Fig. III= represents adetailed front; elevation showing the central portion of the fenceat the circuit breaker, and showing the operating rod and: indicator the positions occupied when the circuit breaker isactuated; a

Fig.1! represents a- -detailed viewof the circuit breaker, the same-being a cross section taken as indicated by the lines IV-IV of- Fig. II. 3

Fig. V represents" a cross secton oithesame, taken as indicated by the lines V- -V of Fig; IV, and showingthe manner in which the indicator is operated;

Fig. VI'representsamethod-of suspending "wire;"a

detaildvievif'showing the the fencefrohi' the carrier 1934, Serial No. 737,873

(oi; 246-121) a I} ig; VII is a perspective view of modi ed iorrnoiprotection' fence composed of a; series of tiered panels", one above another, showing the type of construction utilized adjacent td a? relativeiy high and steep emtankment.

In the examp e of my invention 1-, II and III (if the drawings, thefe selected for convenient illustration a slide protection fence which consists of a single panel or netting as indicated at I. It will be apparent from the description hereinafter that the fence may be made up of number of superposedea en;

proportions and character of may be varied very considerably; As shown in Figs; I and III, the fence is supported uponand 2, and intermediate posts; 3' including a tie r6! post 3d which carries a circuit mittens-r b 4. The posts do not require any special mantis T and attiine's it'may be convenient to ch me ordinary telegraph and telephone 11pporting' the protection fence ofthi inven an. Where special' posts are; provided, the can 2 are preferably braced by diagonai stays 5. Es tending between the end posts 2" are carr ing Wires- 6 and T, suchwir'es being'i elativ ly' tat sea heldin tension by nieansof spiral s rings-'0 located at each end}. The springs 8 are; in rastened to the end posts 2- by re novablemeans which'may take the forth" of hooklbolts 9. IFfie upper and lower' carrying wires G and F arisifip'ortedupon the intermediate posts if and 3d fastening means which may and take the font of hookbolts If or 'c'laihps lite, or iii the em: that thefenceeXtends aro'unds'har'p curve eyebolts ay be used which w ll pr jectthe ing wires a: substantial distance forwardly of the intermediatepo's'ts, I H

The net "rig r is suspended between the upper and lower carrying wir s 6" and T, s unattached' to the interniediateposts a1 amragt. n suitable method of attaching'tlie netting fcarrying wires 6 and 1 isftof emp'loy rings f5 in the" niannerf illustrated in Fig; VI, such fngs sliding freely upon t e wires 6 and" 1 a d en gaging the topand" bottorii parallel longitiidiiiil wires or the netting At theends of the he? ting" lvertical" spacer it are e pl ft,- and such barsare temporarilysecuredtditiie end posts! byjineanso'i amok bolt fl which engziges a band it" disposed substantially fat-tile cente of the s acer bar t. he desc bed constfiiction periiiits the netting te-t easiyer ed and re- ;rrioved; Moreover, it will bfe' par cuiarly'nctfejd that the netting lis'securedomyi'at V 7 that it's intermediate portion has capacity for limited IoHgitudinaI move eiit ili. slidingi eiilg'ag'en'ient with the cz'irfyi'rig"Wires 0s thewires 6 an iitre relatively t" tiie netti gl relativeiy slack, and'hericecapa e. of con istable 'Ion'gitudinaimdvement" at central showriiri' Figs;

brackets 30.

tact members 32.

tion under the impact of large falling objects. Ordinary farm fence may be conveniently utilized for the fence panels. Desirably, I employ netting which is slightly kinked as is customary with farm fence, for such kinks serve to permit uniform expansion and contraction under temperature changes without appreciable movement of the central portion of the netting.

At the center post 3a an operating arm 20 is provided for actuating a circuit controller housed in the box 4. The operating arm 20 in its preferred form extends substantially across the netting and is fastened thereto at spaced points from top to bottom by fastening clips as indicated at 2|. The operating arm 28 is pivoted at ,2? to a bracket which may, be placed at the bottom of the circuit controller box 4, or which may be more directly-attached to the center post 3a. Preferably the operating arm 2|];is made up of a series of pieces including a strip of wood 23 which is relatively weak and will give way under severe stress, thus at times saving the parts of the circuit controllerfrom breaking.

As shown more clearly in Fig IV, the upper curved ends of a pair of levers 25 pivoted at a common point 26. Theupper arms of the levers 25 engage rollers 2'! mounted on rocking levers 2B, which in turn are pivoted at 2 9 to fixed The upper ends of the rocking levers 2 8 are connected by links 3! to movable con- The movable contact members 32 are normally heldin engagement with fixed contact members 33, such members being electrically connected with terminals 34. It will be noted that there are two sets of contact devices, so that a swinging movement of the upper end of the operating arm 20, either to the left or to .the right, will cause one of the movable contact members 32 to separate from its companion contact 33, as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig.

IV. The contacts 32 and 33 serveto open and close signal circuits of the ordinary type em- .pl oyed on railroads, and assuch circuits are well known and not apart of this invention, they are not described herein. v

The sensitivityof the circuit controlling ap- ,paratus may be adjusted by'the amount of lost motionpermitted in the operating levers, and by theshape of the upper end24 of the operating arm 20. Ordinarily it"is undersirable to have the circuit breaker operate as a result of every slight movement of the netting i, such as caused by small sticks and stones striking'it,'and accordingly the operating levers are adjusted to prevent such operation. Obviously, however, if

it is desired to have a circuit controller operate and the warning signal displayed'whenever any -movement of the fence occurs, this may beacrcomplished by reducing the amount of lost moarm 20 is in a vertical position, as indicated in .Fig. IV, the indicator bar 38 is held in raised advantages.

position and is invisible. Movement of the lower portion of the operating arm 20 either to the right or to the left releases the hooked projection 40, causing the indicator bar 38 to project beneath the bottom 39 of the circuit controller box 4. Conveniently the indicator 1 bar 38 is painted with abright color, or a color contrasting with that of the box 4 and post 3a, so that it is readily visible at a distance.

In Fig. VII of the drawings, there is shown a slide protection fence comprising a series of panels I superposed one above the other and suspended from carrying wires 5 and 1 extending between upright supports 4| in the form of telegraph and telephone poles. Such a construction constitutes merely a duplication of the netting and associated apparatus illustrated in Figs. I, II and III. v

The operation of theapparatus of my, inventionis as follows: When the netting l is disturbed by impact with large objects, such as trees, stones, or the like, ,or when it is carried away by a land-slide. the initial impact .will cause a movement of the netting in the direction of its length along the carrying wires 6 and I, the direction of movement being dependent upon Whether the disturbance occurs at one side of the center post 3a or at the other side. It will be observed that regardlessof whether an object strikes the netting near the, top or the bottom, there will result a swinging movement of the lower portion of the operating arm 29, for this arm is fastened to the netting at a plurality of points from the top to the bottom of the netting. Swinging movement of the lower portion of the operating arm 23.imparts a like movement to its upper end 24. The upper end 24 of the operating arm 20 in turn causes one of the levers 25 to swing. The outward movement of the upper end of the lever 25 in turn causes an outward .movement of the lower end of the rocking lever which characterizes my invention is inexpensive in construction, and involves many important The netting is continuous from one end post to another, there being no gaps through which large objects may pass without disturbing it. 'Moreover, the length of the netting may be extended to a'considerable distance from each side of the intermediate support upon which the circuit controller is mounted, thus reducing the number of circuit controllers required in a long protection fence. A further important advantage obtained by the use of this invention resides in the fact that the panels of a built-up fence are readily removable. Accordingly, ditching operations which periodically occur along railway track may be conductedwith only a short time required to prepare forsuch operations, by removal of the lower panels of the fence.

While I have described my invention in some detail with reference to a specific example thercof, it will be apparent that many changes may be made'in the construction of the fence herein ill the spirit of my invention as defined in the annexed claims. It will be particularly apparent that the netting may take many different forms and that I do not mean to limit myself to the use of wire mesh, but may employ other devices which will respond to the impact of falling objects in like manner.

Having thus descrbed my invention, I claim:

1. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, a wire extending between said supports, a netting suspended on said wire with the ends thereof secured to said supports and the intermediate portion having capacity for movement longitudinally along said wire, an additional upright support disposed near the center of said netting, a circuit breaker thereon, and means responsive to movement of the netting in either direction along said wire for operating said circuit breaker.

2. A protection fence for a railroad comprising and posts, carrying wires extending between said end posts, a netting suspended between said wires and extending continuously from one end post to the other, said netting having its ends secured to said posts and having its intermediate portion supported solely on said wires with capacity for movement longitudinally therealong, a circuit breaker disposed between said end posts, and means responsive to movement of the netting along said wires for operating said circuit breaker.

3. A protection fence for a railroad comprising end posts, additional posts intermediate said end posts, a wire extending between said end posts and supported on said intermediate posts, a netting suspended on said wire and extending continuously from one end post to the other, said netting being secured to said end posts but not to said intermediate posts and having capacity for movement longitudinally along said wire, a circuit breaker on one of said intermediate posts, and means responsive to movement of the netting along said wire for operating said circuit breaker.

4. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, a relatively taut wire extending between said supports, a relatively slack netting extending between said supports and suspended on said wire in sliding engagement therewith, an additional upright support disposed between the supports aforesaid, a circuit breaker thereon, and means responsive to sliding movement of the netting along said wire for operating said circuit breaker.

5. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, a spring-tensioned wire extending between said supports, a relatively slack netting having its ends secured to said supports and suspended freely on said wire in sliding engagement therewith, an additional upright support disposed between the supports aforesaid, a circuit-breaker thereon, and means responsive to sliding movement of the netting along said wire for operating said circuit breaker.

6. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, carrying wires extending between said supports, a netting including a series of parallel longitudinal wires cross connected at their ends by vertical spacer bars, said netting being suspended between said carrying wires in sliding engagement therewith and having its spacer bars anchored to said upright supports by removable fastening members and being otherwise unsupported, a circuit breaker disposed between said upright supports, and means responsive to sliding movement of the netting along said wires for operating said circuit breaker.

7. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, a carrying wire extending between said supports, a netting suspended on said carrying wire in sliding engagement therewith and secured at its ends to said upright sup ports, an additional upright support disposed between the supports aforesaid, a circuit breaker thereon, and means for operating said circuit breaker comprising an arm pivoted to said additional support and disposed substantially in the plane of said netting and fastened thereto.

8. A protection fence for a railroad comprising spaced upright supports, a carrying wire extending between said supports, a netting suspended on said carrying wire in sliding engagement therewith, an additional upright support disposed between the supports aforesaid, a circuit breaker, and means for operating said circuit breaker comprising an arm pivoted to said additional support and extending substantially across said netting and fastened thereto at spaced points from the top to the bottom of said netting.

9. In combination with a slide protection fence for a railroad including spaced upright supports and a netting extending between said supports and adapted to move under impact, a circuit breaker having a pair of movable contacts and levers for actuating said contacts, said levers terminating in oppositely disposed ends, and a pivoted operating arm having one portion thereof attached to the netting and another portion extending between the oppositely disposed ends of said actuating levers.

10. In combination with a slide protection fence for a railroad including end posts, an intermediate post and a netting extending between said end posts and in proximity to said intermediate post, said netting being adapted to move in the direction of its length under impact, a circuit breaker mounted on said intermediate post and having a movable contact and a lever for actuating said contact, and an operating arm pivoted to said intermediate post, said arm having one portion thereof extending across and fastened to: said netting and having another portion adapted to engage the actuating lever aforesaid.

11. In combination with a slide protection fence for a railroad including end supports, an intermediate support and a netting extending between said end supports and in proximity to said intermediate support, said netting being adapted to move under impact, a circuit breaker mounted on said intermediate support and having an operating arm fastened to said netting and responsive to its movement, a housing for said circuit breaker, and an indicator normally disposed within said housing and adapted automatically to be projected from said housing when the circuit breaker is operated. V

12. In combination with a slide protection fence for a railroad including and supports, an intermediate support and a netting extending between said end supports and in proximity to said intermediate support, said netting being adap-ted to move under impact, a circuit breaker mounted on said intermediate support and having an operating arm fastened to said netting and responsive to its movement, said operating rod being pivoted on said intermediate support, and an indicator normally engaging the upper end of said operating arm and held by it in raised position, said indicator being adapted to fall by gravity when the operating rod is swung about its pivotal point.

EDWARD G. BAUMANN. 

